Newer vehicles often have extended warranties that allow vehicle manufacturers to cover repairs for higher mileage vehicles. Regular oil changes are often a condition of maintaining warranty coverage. To ensure proper maintenance, an oil condition and level sensor may be incorporated into the vehicle to monitor the condition of the oil, alert the driver when an oil change is needed, and to detect whether an oil change has occurred.
In the past, oil change frequency was dictated by rules of thumb (e.g., every 3000 miles). However, newer technologies in oil additives and vehicle tuning can extend the time and distance between changes. Moreover, better understanding of the effects of the vehicle's operation on oil condition and improved engine controller computing power allows oil change frequency to be customized and predicted based on the oil's actual condition.